# Peripheral Neuroimmune Mechanisms of Hyperthermia

> **NIH NIH K23** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2021 · $196,155

## Abstract

This career development award will establish Dr. Simmie Foster as a clinician-scientist specializing in
thermoregulation of immunity in the context of depression. Dr. Foster has significant basic science expertise in
inflammation and neuroimmunity, especially in mouse models, and now wishes to move towards becoming a
patient-oriented researcher, studying human subjects and tissues. To accomplish this goal, she has identified
several training objectives: 1) Develop expertise in the methodology to conduct patient-oriented research,
including novel study design and advanced statistical analyses; 2) Further training in clinical and research
mechanisms and applications of hyperthermia; 3) Training in collection, processing, and interpretation of
immune and physiological biomarkers in human subjects critical to understanding the mechanisms of action of
hyperthermia; and 4) Further training in the responsible conduct of randomized controlled trials. She has
assembled an expert team to guide her in clinical trial design, hyperthermia sensing and treatment, and
phenotyping of human tissues. Rationale: A hallmark of the systemic inflammatory response to infection or
injury is fever. Yet the molecular links between thermoregulation and immunity remain unclear. Elevating the
body temperature to fever range, even in the absence of overt immune stimuli, has been shown to ameliorate
multiple ailments, especially those with an inflammatory basis, including psychiatric disease such as major
depressive disorder (MDD). In this proposal, Dr. Foster plans a multi-level approach to investigate how
heat-sensing by immune cells contributes to the inflammatory profile observed after exposure to
hyperthermia, and specifically the consequences of elevated temperature on inflammasome activation.
 A candidate target for feedback regulation is IL-1, the prototypical proinflammatory cytokine and endogenous
pyrogen (fever-inducer). The Woolf lab and others have shown that thermo-sensitive neurons interact with
immune cells to regulate inflammation, indicating that heat sensing could play a role in inhibition of IL-1,
and thus contribute to the beneficial effect of hyperthermia on inflammatory disease. In Aim 1, she tests
the prediction that whole body hyperthermia induces an anti-inflammatory response characterized by induction
of heat shock proteins and inhibition of inflammasome mediated IL-1 in patients with major depressive
disorder. In Aim 2, using peripheral blood monocytes from healthy subjects, she dissects mechanisms by
which exposure to elevated temperature inhibits the inflammasome; testing the hypothesis that macrophage
sensing of elevated temperature through neuronal sensors inhibits production and processing of IL-1. In Aim
3, using immune cell neuronal co-cultures, she determines contribution of neuronal heat sensing to changes in
inflammatory mediators produced by immune cells. The results of this study will lead to a more complete
picture of how hyperthermi...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10241977
- **Project number:** 5K23GM129630-03
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Simmie Foster
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $196,155
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-09-01 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10241977

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10241977, Peripheral Neuroimmune Mechanisms of Hyperthermia (5K23GM129630-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10241977. Licensed CC0.

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